This application is based upon and claims the benefit of priority from the prior Japanese Patent Application No. 2000-376319, filed Dec. 11, 2000, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a semiconductor chip pickup jig, a semiconductor chip pickup device and pickup method, and a semiconductor device manufacturing method and apparatus to which the above device and method are applied. More specifically, this invention is generally applied to an apparatus and method which picks up (separates) a plurality of semiconductor chips having a thickness of 100 xcexcm or less from an adhesive sheet after the semiconductor chips are adhered to the adhesive sheet.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a semiconductor wafer on which elements have been formed is individually separated and divided along dicing lines or chip division lines to form a plurality of semiconductor chips (dies or pellets). The semiconductor chips are adhered to an adhesive sheet (adhesive tape), each of the semiconductor chips is picked up from the adhesive sheet and the thus picked-up semiconductor chip is subjected to a mounting process for mounting the same on a lead frame or TAB tape, a mounting process for sealing the same into a package and the like so as to complete a semiconductor device.
FIG. 1 is a cross sectional view of an enlarged main constituting portion of the conventional pickup device which picks up semiconductor chips from an adhesive sheet. Further, FIGS. 2A and 2B are a side view and top view showing a semiconductor chip pickup jig (pin holder and thrust pins) used in the pickup device. When a semiconductor chip 100 is separated and picked up from an adhesive sheet 101, thrust pins (pickup needles) 102 are moved upwardly (raised) to press the rear surface of the semiconductor chip, push up the semiconductor chip 100 with the adhesive sheet 101 disposed therebetween and separate the semiconductor chip 100 from the adhesive sheet 101. The thrust pins 102 are arranged in positions corresponding to the corner portions of the semiconductor chip 100 or in positions corresponding to a portion near the central portion thereof and the base portions thereof are mounted on the pin holder 103.
According to a general order of the steps of separating the semiconductor chip 100, first, a fixing table on which the adhesive sheet 101 having the semiconductor chips 100 adhered thereto is fixed is moved so as to place one of the semiconductor chips 100 to be picked up above the thrust pins 102. Next, a mark detection process which is effected to detect the position of the semiconductor chip 100 to be separated and determine a good product or defective product of the semiconductor chip 100 is performed and the internal portion of a backup holder 104 is evacuated to hold and fix the adhesive sheet 101 by suction on the upper surface of the backup holder 104. In this state, the pin holder 103 on which the thrust pins 102 are attached is raised to project the thrust pins 102 from the upper surface of the backup holder 104 so as to press the rear surface of the semiconductor chip and push up the semiconductor chip 100 with the adhesive sheet 101 disposed therebetween. At this time, the front end portions of the thrust pins 102 mounted on the pin holder 103 are adjusted so as to be set at the same height.
In recent years, it is strongly required to make thin a semiconductor chip in order to contain the semiconductor chip into a card-form thin package, for example, and the rear surface of the semiconductor wafer is polished, ground and etched to reduce the thickness thereof to 100 xcexcm or less. However, if the semiconductor chip is made thin to 100 xcexcm or less, there occurs a problem that cracks occur when the semiconductor chip is separated from the adhesive sheet.
Next, a problem of the crack occurring when the semiconductor chip is made thin to 100 xcexcm or less is explained in detail with reference to FIGS. 3A and 3B to FIGS. 6A and 6B and FIGS. 7A and 7B to FIGS. 10A and 10B. If the semiconductor chip is made extremely thin as described above, as shown in FIGS. 3A and 3B to FIGS. 6A and 6B, the thrust pins 102 will penetrate through a semiconductor chip 100 to cause chip cracks therein when the thrust pins 102 are raised to thrust and push up the rear surface of the semiconductor chip 100 with the adhesive sheet 101 disposed therebetween. If the thickness of the semiconductor chip 100 is 100 xcexcm or more, the above phenomenon will not occur since the strength (in the thickness direction) of the semiconductor chip is high due to the adhesive strength between the semiconductor chip 100 and the adhesive sheet 101.
Further, as shown in FIGS. 7A and 7B to FIGS. 10A and 10B, even when outer peripheral portions (particularly, corner portions) of the semiconductor chip 100 are separated as shown in FIGS. 8A and 8B or FIGS. 9A and 9B, the semiconductor chip 100 is warped into a concave form before it is separated since the speed at which the adhesive sheet 101 is separated is lower than the rising speed of the thrust pins 102. As a result, as shown in FIGS. 10A and 10B, cracks finally occur. If the positions in which the thrust pins 102 are mounted on the pin holder 103 are set to correspond to a portion near the central portion of the semiconductor chip 100, it becomes difficult to separate the outer peripheral portions thereof from the adhesive sheet 101, the semiconductor chip 100 is warped into to a convex form and cracks will occur. Further, even if the number of thrust pins 102 is increased, it is difficult to suppress occurrence of cracks. In addition, it is also impossible to avoid occurrence of cracks even if a tape such as a UV tape having low adhesive strength of the adhesive sheet 101 is used.
Thus, if the thickness of the semiconductor chip is reduced, the strength of the semiconductor chip becomes weak and it is impossible to avoid occurrence of cracks if the conventional semiconductor chip pickup device and pickup method are used. The problem becomes more significant as the size of the semiconductor chip becomes larger. Therefore, it is desired to take measures against occurrence of cracks at the time of pickup.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a semiconductor chip pickup jig which separates semiconductor chips removably affixed to an adhesive sheet from the adhesive sheet comprising a first group of thrust pins which are arranged in positions corresponding to corner portions of one of the semiconductor chips and thrust up the semiconductor chip by use of first front end portions thereof with the adhesive sheet disposed therebetween; a second group of thrust pins which are arranged in positions corresponding to a nearby portion of a central portion of the semiconductor chip with second front end portions thereof being set lower than the first front end portions of the first thrust pin group and thrust up the semiconductor chip by use of the second front end portions thereof with the adhesive sheet disposed therebetween; and a pin holder on which base portions of the first and second thrust pin groups are mounted.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a semiconductor chip pickup jig which separates semiconductor chips removably affixed to an adhesive sheet from the adhesive sheet comprising a first group of thrust pins which are arranged in positions corresponding to corner portions of one of the semiconductor chips and thrust up the semiconductor chip by use of first front end portions thereof with the adhesive sheet disposed therebetween; a second group of thrust pins which are arranged in positions corresponding to a nearby portion of a central portion of the semiconductor chip with second front end portions thereof being set at substantially the same height as the first front end portions of the first thrust pin group and thrust up the semiconductor chip by use of the second front end portions thereof with the adhesive sheet disposed therebetween; a third group of thrust pins which are arranged in positions corresponding to respective sides of the semiconductor chip and lying between the thrust pins of the first thrust pin group with third front end portions thereof being set lower than the first and second front end portions of the first and second thrust pin groups and thrust up the semiconductor chip by use of the third front end portions thereof with the adhesive sheet disposed therebetween; and a pin holder on which base portions of the first to third thrust pin groups are mounted.
According to still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a semiconductor chip pickup jig which separates semiconductor chips removably affixed to an adhesive sheet from the adhesive sheet comprising a first group of thrust pins which are arranged in positions corresponding to corner portions of one the semiconductor chips and thrust up the semiconductor chip by use of first front end portions thereof with the adhesive sheet disposed therebetween; a second group of thrust pins which are arranged in positions corresponding to a nearby portion of a central portion of the semiconductor chip and thrust up the semiconductor chip by use of second front end portions thereof with the adhesive sheet disposed therebetween; a pin holder on which base portions of the first and second thrust pin groups are mounted; and a pin position controller which controls the second front end portions of the second thrust pin group to be set lower than the first front end portions of the first thrust pin group at the time of separation of the semiconductor chip.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a semiconductor chip pickup device which individually separates a plurality of semiconductor chips formed by discretely dividing a semiconductor wafer and removably affixed to a first surface of an adhesive sheet from the adhesive sheet comprising a fixing table on which the plurality of semiconductor chips are fixedly set with the semiconductor chips affixed to the adhesive sheet; a first group of thrust pins which are arranged in positions corresponding to corner portions of one of the semiconductor chips and thrust up the semiconductor chip by use of first front end portions thereof with the adhesive sheet disposed therebetween; a second group of thrust pins which are arranged in positions corresponding to a nearby portion of a central portion of the semiconductor chip with second front end portions thereof being set lower than the first front end portions of the first thrust pin group and thrust up the semiconductor chip by use of the second front end portions thereof with the adhesive sheet disposed therebetween; a pin holder on which base portions of the first and second thrust pin groups are mounted; a backup holder in which the pin holder having the first and second thrust pin groups mounted thereon is received and which is arranged on a second surface of the adhesive sheet opposite to the first surface; a moving mechanism which is constructed to relatively move the position of each semiconductor chip on the fixing table and the position of the backup holder; and a suction device which is constructed to fix the adhesive sheet to which the semiconductor chip to be picked up is affixed by drawing a vacuum on the inside of the backup holder; wherein the respective corner portions of the semiconductor chip are separated by use of the first thrust pin group and then the nearby portion of the central portion of the semiconductor chip is separated by use of the second thrust pin group.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a semiconductor chip pickup device which individually separates a plurality of semiconductor chips formed by discretely dividing a semiconductor wafer and removably affixed to a first surface of an adhesive sheet from the adhesive sheet comprising a fixing table on which the plurality of semiconductor chips are fixedly set with the semiconductor chips affixed to the adhesive sheet; a first group of thrust pins which are arranged in positions corresponding to corner portions of one of the semiconductor chips and thrust up the semiconductor chip by use of first front end portions thereof with the adhesive sheet disposed therebetween; a second group of thrust pins which are arranged in positions corresponding to a nearby portion of a central portion of the semiconductor chip with second front end portions thereof being set at substantially the same height as the first front end portions of the first thrust pin group and thrust up the semiconductor chip by use of the second front end portions thereof with the adhesive sheet disposed therebetween; a third group of thrust pins which are arranged in positions corresponding to respective sides of the semiconductor chip and lying between the thrust pins of the first thrust pin group with third front end portions thereof being set lower than the first and second front end portions of the first and second thrust pin groups and thrust up the semiconductor chip by use of the third front end portions thereof with the adhesive sheet disposed therebetween; a pin holder on which base portions of the first to third groups of thrust pins are mounted; a backup holder in which the pin holder having the first to third thrust pin groups mounted thereon is received and which is arranged on a second surface of the adhesive sheet opposite to the first surface; a moving mechanism which is constructed to relatively move the position of each semiconductor chip on the fixing table and the position of the backup holder; and a suction device which is constructed to fix the adhesive sheet to which the semiconductor chip to be picked up is affixed by drawing a vacuum on the inside of the backup holder; wherein the respective corner portions of the semiconductor chip are separated by use of the first thrust pin group while the nearby portion of the central portion of the semiconductor chip is kept in position by use of the second thrust pin group, then the respective sides of the semiconductor chip are separated by use of the third thrust pin group and the nearby portion of the central portion of the semiconductor chip is separated by use of the second thrust pin group.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a semiconductor chip pickup device which individually separates a plurality of semiconductor chips formed by discretely dividing a semiconductor wafer and removably affixed to a first surface of an adhesive sheet from the adhesive sheet comprising a fixing table on which the plurality of semiconductor chips are fixedly set with the semiconductor chips affixed to the adhesive sheet; a first group of thrust pins which are arranged in positions corresponding to corner portions of one of the semiconductor chips and thrust up the semiconductor chip by use of first front end portions thereof with the adhesive sheet disposed therebetween; a second group of thrust pins which are arranged in positions corresponding to a nearby portion of a central portion of the semiconductor chip and thrust up the semiconductor chip by use of second front end portions thereof with the adhesive sheet disposed therebetween; a pin holder on which base portions of the first and second thrust pin groups are mounted; a backup holder in which the pin holder having the first and second thrust pin groups mounted thereon is received and which is arranged on a second surface of the adhesive sheet opposite to the first surface; a moving mechanism which is constructed to relatively move the position of each semiconductor chip on the fixing table and the position of the backup holder; a suction device which is constructed to fix the adhesive sheet to which the semiconductor chip to be picked up is affixed by drawing a vacuum on the inside of the backup holder; and a pin position controller which controls the second front end portions of the second thrust pin group to be set lower than the first front end portions of the first thrust pin group at the time of separation of the semiconductor chip; wherein the respective corner portions of the semiconductor chip are separated by use of the first thrust pin group and then the nearby portion of the central portion of the semiconductor chip is separated by use of the second thrust pin group.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus comprising a semiconductor chip pickup device which individually separates a plurality of semiconductor chips formed by discretely dividing a semiconductor wafer and removably affixed to a first surface of an adhesive sheet from the adhesive sheet; the pickup device including a fixing table on which the plurality of semiconductor chips are fixedly set with the semiconductor chips affixed to the adhesive sheet; a first group of thrust pins which are arranged in positions corresponding to corner portions of one of the semiconductor chips and thrust up the semiconductor chip by use of first front end portions thereof with the adhesive sheet disposed therebetween; a second group of thrust pins which are arranged in positions corresponding to a nearby portion of a central portion of the semiconductor chip with second front end portions thereof being set lower than the first front end portions of the first thrust pin group and thrust up the semiconductor chip by use of the second front end portions thereof with the adhesive sheet disposed therebetween; a pin holder on which base portions of the first and second groups of thrust pins are mounted; a backup holder in which the pin holder having the first and second thrust pin groups mounted thereon is received and which is arranged on a second surface of the adhesive sheet opposite to the first surface; a moving mechanism which is constructed to relatively move the position of each semiconductor chip on the fixing table and the position of the backup holder; and a suction device which is constructed to fix the adhesive sheet to which the semiconductor chip to be picked up is affixed by drawing a vacuum on the inside of the backup holder; wherein the respective corner portions of the semiconductor chip are separated by use of the first thrust pin group and then the nearby portion of the central portion of the semiconductor chip is separated by use of the second thrust pin group.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus comprising a semiconductor chip pickup device which individually separates a plurality of semiconductor chips formed by discretely dividing a semiconductor wafer and removably affixed to a first surface of an adhesive sheet from the adhesive sheet; the pickup device including a fixing table on which the plurality of semiconductor chips are fixedly set with the semiconductor chips affixed to the adhesive sheet; a first group of thrust pins which are arranged in positions corresponding to corner portions of one of the semiconductor chips and thrust up the semiconductor chip by use of first front end portions thereof with the adhesive sheet disposed therebetween; a second group of thrust pins which are arranged in positions corresponding to a nearby portion of a central portion of the semiconductor chip with second front end portions thereof being set at substantially the same height as the first front end portions of the first thrust pin group and thrust up the semiconductor chip by use of the second front end portions thereof with the adhesive sheet disposed therebetween; a third group of thrust pins which are arranged in positions corresponding to respective sides of the semiconductor chip and lying between the thrust pins of the first thrust pin group with third front end portions thereof being set lower than the first and second front end portions of the first and second thrust pin groups and thrust up the semiconductor chip by use of the third front end portions thereof with the adhesive sheet disposed therebetween; a pin holder on which base portions of the first to third groups of thrust pins are mounted; a backup holder in which the pin holder having the first to third thrust pin groups mounted thereon is received and which is arranged on a second surface of the adhesive sheet opposite to the second surface; a moving mechanism which is constructed to relatively move the position of each semiconductor chip on the fixing table and the position of the backup holder; and a suction device which is constructed to fix the adhesive sheet to which the semiconductor chip to be picked up is affixed by drawing a vacuum on the inside of the backup holder; wherein the respective corner portions of the semiconductor chip are separated by use of the first thrust pin group while the nearby portion of the central portion of the semiconductor chip is kept in position by use of the second thrust pin group, then the respective sides of the semiconductor chip are separated by use of the third thrust pin group and the nearby portion of the central portion of the semiconductor chip is separated by use of the second thrust pin group.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a semiconductor device manufacturing apparatus comprising a semiconductor chip pickup device which individually separates a plurality of semiconductor chips formed by discretely dividing a semiconductor wafer and removably affixed to a first surface of an adhesive sheet from the adhesive sheet; the pickup device including a fixing table on which the plurality of semiconductor chips are fixedly set with the semiconductor chips affixed to the adhesive sheet; a first group of thrust pins which are arranged in positions corresponding to corner portions of one of the semiconductor chips and thrust up the semiconductor chip by use of first front end portions thereof with the adhesive sheet disposed therebetween; a second group of thrust pins which are arranged in positions corresponding to a nearby portion of a central portion of the semiconductor chip and thrust up the semiconductor chip by use of second front end portions thereof with the adhesive sheet disposed therebetween; a pin holder on which base portions of the first and second groups of thrust pins are mounted; a backup holder in which the pin holder having the first and second thrust pin groups mounted thereon is received and which is arranged on a second surface of the adhesive sheet opposite to the first surface; a moving mechanism which is constructed to relatively move the position of each semiconductor chip on the fixing table and the position of the backup holder; a suction device which is constructed to fix the adhesive sheet to which the semiconductor chip to be picked up is affixed by drawing a vacuum on the inside of the backup holder; and a pin position controller which controls the second front end portions of the second thrust pin group to be set lower than the first front end portions of the first thrust pin group at the time of separation of the semiconductor chip; wherein the respective corner portions of the semiconductor chip are separated by use of the first thrust pin group and then the nearby portion of the central portion of the semiconductor chip is separated by use of the second thrust pin group.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a semiconductor chip pickup method which individually separates a plurality of semiconductor chips formed by discretely dividing a semiconductor wafer and affixed to an adhesive sheet from the adhesive sheet comprising relatively moving the position of a fixing table and the position of a backup holder to set first and second thrust pin groups to a position corresponding to one of the semiconductor chips which is to be picked up; separating the corner portions of the semiconductor chip from the adhesive sheet by projecting the first thrust pin group from the backup holder to thrust up the semiconductor chip with the adhesive sheet disposed therebetween and thereby bend the semiconductor chip into a concave shape while drawing a vacuum on the inside of the backup holder to hold the adhesive sheet by suction; and separating a nearby portion of a central portion of the semiconductor chip bent into a concave shape from the adhesive sheet, while holding the nearby portion of the central portion of the semiconductor chip by the second thrust pin group, by projecting the second thrust pin group from the backup holder to a position which is lower than that of the first thrust pin group to thrust up the semiconductor chip with the adhesive sheet disposed therebetween while drawing a vacuum on the inside of the backup holder to hold the adhesive sheet by suction.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a semiconductor chip pickup method which individually separates a plurality of semiconductor chips formed by discretely dividing a semiconductor wafer and affixed to an adhesive sheet from the adhesive sheet comprising relatively moving the position of a fixing table and the position of a backup holder to set first to third thrust pin groups to a position corresponding to one of the semiconductor chips which is to be picked up; separating the corner portions of the semiconductor chip from the adhesive sheet by projecting the first thrust pin group from the backup holder to thrust up the semiconductor chip with the adhesive sheet disposed therebetween and thereby bend the semiconductor chip into a concave shape while drawing a vacuum on the inside of the backup holder to hold the adhesive sheet by suction; keeping a nearby portion of a central portion of the semiconductor chip bent into a concave shape in position by projecting the second thrust pin group from the backup holder to a position which is lower than that of the first thrust pin group to thrust up the semiconductor chip with the adhesive sheet disposed therebetween while drawing a vacuum on the inside of the backup holder to hold the adhesive sheet by suction; separating respective sides of the semiconductor chip by projecting the third thrust pin group from the backup holder to a position which is lower than that of the second thrust pin group to thrust up the semiconductor chip with the adhesive sheet disposed therebetween while drawing a vacuum on the inside of the backup holder to hold the adhesive sheet by suction; and separating the nearby portion of the central portion of the semiconductor chip by use of the second thrust pin group.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a semiconductor chip pickup method which individually separates a plurality of semiconductor chips formed by discretely dividing a semiconductor wafer and affixed to an adhesive sheet from the adhesive sheet comprising relatively moving the position of a fixing table and the position of a backup holder to set first to third thrust pin groups to a position corresponding to one of the semiconductor chips which is to be picked up; separating corner portions of the semiconductor chip from the adhesive sheet by bending the semiconductor chip into a concave shape by use of the first thrust pin group, while keeping a nearby portion of a central portion of the semiconductor chip in position by use of the second thrust pin group by projecting the first and second thrust pin groups from the backup holder to thrust up the semiconductor chip with the adhesive sheet disposed therebetween while drawing a vacuum on the inside of the backup holder to hold the adhesive sheet by suction; separating respective sides of the semiconductor chip by projecting the third thrust pin group from the backup holder to a position which is lower than that of the first and second thrust pin groups to thrust up the semiconductor chip with the adhesive sheet disposed therebetween while drawing a vacuum on the inside of the backup holder to hold the adhesive sheet by suction; and separating the nearby portion of the central portion of the semiconductor chip by use of the second thrust pin group.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a semiconductor device manufacturing method comprising forming elements on a main surface of a semiconductor wafer; forming a plurality of semiconductor chips by discretely dividing the semiconductor wafer on which the elements have been formed along one of dicing lines and chip dividing lines; affixing the plurality of discretely divided semiconductor chips to an adhesive sheet and fixedly setting the plurality of semiconductor chips on a fixing table; moving the fixing table to set first and second thrust pin groups to a position corresponding to one of the semiconductor chips which is to be picked up; separating corner portions of the semiconductor chip from the adhesive sheet by projecting the first thrust pin group from the backup holder to thrust up the semiconductor chip with the adhesive sheet disposed therebetween and thereby bend the semiconductor chip into a concave shape while drawing a vacuum on the inside of the backup holder to hold the adhesive sheet by suction; separating a nearby portion of a central portion of the semiconductor chip from the adhesive sheet, while holding the nearby portion of the central portion of the semiconductor chip by the second thrust pin group, by projecting the second thrust pin group from the backup holder to a position which is lower than that of the first thrust pin group to thrust up the semiconductor chip with the adhesive sheet disposed therebetween while drawing a vacuum on the inside of the backup holder to hold the adhesive sheet by suction; and setting the pressure in the internal portion of the backup holder back to atmospheric pressure and holding and picking up the semiconductor chip by suction by use of a collet.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a semiconductor device manufacturing method comprising: forming elements on a main surface of a semiconductor wafer; forming a plurality of semiconductor chips by discretely dividing the semiconductor wafer on which the elements have been formed along one of dicing lines and chip dividing lines; affixing the plurality of discretely divided semiconductor chips to an adhesive sheet and fixedly setting the plurality of semiconductor chips on a fixing table; moving the fixing table to set first and third thrust pin groups to a position corresponding to the semiconductor chip to be picked up; separating corner portions of the semiconductor chip from the adhesive sheet by projecting the first thrust pin group from the backup holder to thrust up the semiconductor chip with the adhesive sheet disposed therebetween and thereby bend the semiconductor chip into a concave shape while drawing a vacuum on the inside of the backup holder to hold the adhesive sheet by suction; keeping a nearby portion of a central portion of the semiconductor chip in position by projecting the second thrust pin group from the backup holder to a position which is lower than that of the first thrust pin group to thrust up the semiconductor chip with the adhesive sheet disposed therebetween while drawing a vacuum on the inside of the backup holder to hold the adhesive sheet by suction; separating respective sides of the semiconductor chip by projecting the third thrust pin group from the backup holder to a position which is lower than that of the second thrust pin group to thrust up the semiconductor chip with the adhesive sheet disposed therebetween while drawing a vacuum on the inside of the backup holder to hold the adhesive sheet by suction; separating the nearby portion of the central portion of the semiconductor chip by use of the second thrust pin group; and setting the pressure in the internal portion of the backup holder back to atmospheric pressure and holding and picking up the thus separated semiconductor chip by suction by use of a collet.
According to another aspect of the invention, there is provided a semiconductor device manufacturing method comprising forming elements on a main surface of a semiconductor wafer; forming a plurality of semiconductor chips by discretely dividing the semiconductor wafer on which the elements have been formed along one of dicing lines and chip dividing lines; affixing the plurality of discretely divided semiconductor chips to an adhesive sheet and fixedly setting the plurality of semiconductor chips on a fixing table; moving the fixing table to set first and third thrust pin groups to a position corresponding to one of the semiconductor chips which is to be picked up; separating corner portions of the semiconductor chip from the adhesive sheet by bending the semiconductor chip into a concave shape by use of the first thrust pin group, while keeping a nearby portion of a central portion of the semiconductor chip in position by use of the second thrust pin group by projecting the first and second thrust pin groups from the backup holder to thrust up the semiconductor chip with the adhesive sheet disposed therebetween while drawing a vacuum on the inside of the backup holder to hold the adhesive sheet by suction; separating respective sides of the semiconductor chip by projecting the third thrust pin group from the backup holder to a position which is lower than that of the first and second thrust pin groups to thrust up the semiconductor chip with the adhesive sheet disposed therebetween while drawing a vacuum on the inside of the backup holder to hold the adhesive sheet by suction; separating the nearby portion of the central portion of the semiconductor chip by use of the second thrust pin group; and setting the pressure in the internal portion of the backup holder back to atmospheric pressure and holding and picking up the semiconductor chip by suction by use of a collet.